Photographs by Věra Šťovíčková-Heroldová in the Náprstek Museum Collections

In February 2016, a valuable collection of objects was presented to the public in the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures through the exhibition Afghanistan - Rescued Treasures of Buddhism. The collection was transported to the Czech Republic all the way from the heart of Asia. The relics on display, dating mostly to the period between the 1st to the 9th century A.D., come mainly from archaeological explorations on the Mes Aynak locality and have been loaned out to the Náprstek Museum by the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul. Based on a mutual agreement, most of the objects have been restored and conserved by experts in the restoration workshops and laboratories of the National Museum. The objects were also subjected to natural scientific research.

Freedom Comes in a BoxReflections on the National Museum of African American History and Culture Radiclani Clytus (bio) Blacks in one boxBlacks in two boxBlacks onBlacks stacked in boxes stacked on boxesBlacks in boxes stacked on shoresBlacks in boxes stacked on boats in darknessBlacks in boxes do not floatBlacks in boxes count their losses —Terrance Hayes, “The Blue Seuss” In August 2016 the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which is located on the last available site of Pierre L’Enfant’s 1791 master plan for the US Capital, will open its doors in honor of the black experience in America. Since the museum’s initial proposal in 1915 by black Union Army veterans, African Americans have been relentless in their demands for a parcel of what is often described as our nation’s most symbolic, if not most important, tract of real estate. As early as 1929, the collective efforts of black soldiers and citizens were sufficient enough to compel President Herbert Hoover to establish a commission that was charged with developing a plan for a National Memorial Building where “the Negro’s contribution to the achievements of America” could be duly recognized (Wilkins). This committee included the likes of Mary Church Terrell, Mary McLeod Bethune, Paul Revere Williams, and John R. Hawkins; but hard luck in the form of the Great Depression obstructed their mission to secure comprehensive legislation and private fundraising. As a result, the appeal for a national black history museum subsided for several decades, only to reemerge during the latter half of the twentieth century. So it’s not surprising that when the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s enlivened discussions about how Americans should view the legacy of slavery, skirmishes over the proposed museum and reparations became the routine fodder of talk shows and nightly news programs. One might even argue that there is a correlation between how such debates persisted within the black public sphere (aka barber and beauty shops) and the tenacity with which Representatives such as the late Mickey Leland and John Lewis held forth as the museum’s sole congressional advocates. But [End Page 742] for all of Leland’s and Lewis’s legislative achievements, beginning with the appointment of Mary Schmidt Campbell as the chair of the Smithsonian advisory board in 1990, the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (H.R. 3491) would not be ratified until December 16, 2003. Owing to the act’s countless compromises and delays, its realization has now come to feel like so many of our nation’s democratic struggles that turn out to be profoundly reasonable despite embattling a lifetime’s worth of opposition. Fortunately, this century’s long effort is complemented by an architectural structure that reflects the temerity of the museum’s supporters and their bold programmatic intentions. The museum’s design, which is the result of the collaboration between three internationally acclaimed architects, Philip Freelon, David Adjaye, and the late J. Max Bond, Jr. (all of whom are of African descent), marks a radical break from the neoclassical white marble monuments that dot the architectural landscape of the Capital’s centerpiece. The building itself has the appearance of an upside down ziggurat and consists of three bronze decoratively patterned inverted trapezoids that rest atop a massive plinth. According to Adjaye, a Ghanaian-British national with whom the museum’s design is closely associated, the inverted trapezoids directly reference those Yoruban shrines that were contemporaneous with the existence of the Transatlantic slave trade and thus honor the history of African craftsmanship through the visual effect of a shimmering bronze corona. By having the building’s silhouette reflect upon the foundry cultures of Nigeria and Benin, Adjaye hopes to call attention to the unacknowledged black artisans who developed much of the ornamental metal work that can be found in cities such as Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; and New Orleans, LA. Arguably, there is very little in Adjaye’s structure and the surrounding landscape that brings to mind the agricultural labor that was essential to the accumulation of white wealth within the Americas. However, a case for this...

J. V. Daneš (1880–1928) was not only an outstanding figure of his time in the international scientific community, but also a diplomat and a traveller. Two of his overseas trips led him to Australia and the Pacific region, where he assembled a remarkable collection of ethnographic objects and photographs. This collection, now kept in the National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague, has been mostly neglected and unpublished for decades. This paper provides a basis for its further study by introducing Daneš’s journeys around the region and comparing them to the proveniences of the ethnographic objects.

Manifest Wendel A. White (bio) Manifest is an ongoing project, a portfolio of nearly one hundred photographs of African American material culture held in public and private collections throughout the United States. These repositories have accumulated diaries, receipts for the purchase of humans, hair, a drum, a door, photographs, figurines, and other artifacts—some with great historical significance, some the commonplace, quotidian material of black life. This project is concerned with the physical remnants of the American concept and representation of race. The histories of slavery, abolition, the U.S. Civil War, segregation, oppression, accomplishment, and agency are among the narratives that emerge in these photographs. I am increasingly interested in the residual power of the past to inhabit material remains. The ability of objects to transcend lives, centuries, and millennia suggests a remarkable mechanism for folding time, bringing the past and the present into a shared space that is uniquely suited to artistic exploration. While the artifacts are remarkable as visual evidence of lives and events, I also intend the viewer to consider this informal reliquary as a survey of the impulse and motivation to preserve history and memory. Various projects have occupied my attention during the past two decades; in retrospect, each has been part of a singular effort to seek out the ghosts and resonant memories of the material world. I am drawn to the stories "dwelling within" a spoon, a cowbell, a book, a postcard, or a partially burned document. The photographs are made with a 4 × 5 view camera, using film or digital capture. The prints are pigment-based inkjet. [End Page 14] Click for larger view View full resolution Lunch Box, Larkin Franklin Sr., Eatonville Historic Preservation, Eatonville, Florida, 2012. [End Page 15] Click for larger view View full resolution Slave Bill of Sale, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York, 2009. [End Page 16] Click for larger view View full resolution Door Knob, Maye St. Julien, Eatonville Historic Preservation, Eatonville, Florida, 2012. [End Page 17] Click for larger view View full resolution Spoon, Harriet Tubman House, Auburn, New York, 2009. [End Page 18] Click for larger view View full resolution Iron, Great Plain Black History Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011. [End Page 19] Click for larger view View full resolution Tintype, Fenton History Center, Jamestown, New York, 2009. [End Page 20] Click for larger view View full resolution Zora Neale Hurston Sketch Book, Smathers Library Special Collections, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 2012. [End Page 21] Click for larger view View full resolution James Baldwin Inkwell, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2016. [End Page 22] Click for larger view View full resolution FBI Files on Malcolm X, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2011. [End Page 23] Click for larger view View full resolution Poster of Angela Davis, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2016. [End Page 24] Click for larger view View full resolution Drum, Dan Desdunes Band, Great Plains Black History Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011. [End Page 25] Click for larger view View full resolution Cab Calloway Home Movies: Haiti, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2016. [End Page 26] Click for larger view View full resolution Radio Raheem's boombox from the movie Do the Right Thing, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2016. [End Page 27] Click for larger view View full resolution New Orleans Door, Hurricane Katrina, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., 2016. [End Page 28] Click for larger view View full resolution Quilt (W. Black), Great Plains Black History Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, 2011. [End Page 29] Wendel A. White Wendel A. White was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He earned a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York and an MFA in photography from the University of Texas at Austin. His work has received various awards, including fellowships and grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in...

The paper presents results of CT and external examination of seven ancient Egyptian mummified isolated human heads from the collections of the National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. It is the first preliminary outcome regarding isolated parts of mummies from a multi-disciplinary project that aims to map all ancient Egyptian mummified material in public collections of the Czech Republic. The heads are well preserved and exhibit a variety of mummification techniques and materials.

The National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Prague, keeps within its collection four ancient Egyptian fish mummies. The specimens were recently examined using computed tomography as a part of the Atlas of Egyptian Mummies Project in the Czech Collections. Preliminary results of the examination using the most advanced, non-destructive radiological methods indicated that the original taxonomical determination of the mummified fish, examined previously by the team led by Eugen Strouhal in the 1970s, as Polypterus sp. (and Gymnarchus niloticus) was not confirmed. Recently, the specimens were classified as belonging to the Siluriformes order.

In the 1980s, the excavations of the Czechoslovak Institute of Egyptology headed by Miroslav Verner excavated large parts of the pyramid complex of King Raneferef (Neferefre)2 and uncovered evidence of the mortuary cult of the king, including ca. one thousand of clay sealings (or sealing fragments). Out of them, a corpus of over three hundred sealings was acquired by National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. In most aspects, they make a representative sample of the whole corpus. This paper presents in summary properties of the corpus relevant to the interpretation of the temple administration as it is reflected in the sealing activity.3 After a brief introduction to the site and the organization of the excavated corpus, the attention will be focused particularly on the general patterns of the distribution of sealings with regard to space, type, and attested epigraphical features (titles, names of gods and institutions, other iconographical features), as these are the means to uncover potential correlations between the activity of holders of particular offices (or representatives of particular institutions), particular parts of the temple and particular types of sealings (i.e. particular kinds of sealed containers).

The study presents amulet cases of the Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Karakalpaks from the late 19th century until the early 20th century taking example from the collections of the State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, Samarkand State Museum-Reserve, State Museum of Applied Art and History of Crafting of the Republic of Uzbekistan and National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Czech Republic. In particular, the types and forms of amulet cases, material, processing technique, ornament, and the resulting ethnic and local specifics are analysed. The study aims to differentiate the characteristic features of this prominent group of Central Asian jewellery and thus contribute to the correct identification thereof in connection with professional museum work.

The present article surveys Karl Richard Lepsius’ (1810–1884) love for producing modern compositions of Egyptian hieroglyphic texts, and in particular, for writing modern names in Egyptian hieroglyphs. The survey is carried out in the context of new discoveries of such texts on objects kept in the collections of Museum August Kestner in Hanover and the National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague. Two newly identified and interpreted texts come from the bases of modern imitations of ancient Egyptian scarabs, which were produced – no doubt under the supervision of Lepsius himself – in a local workshop at Luxor, Upper Egypt, in 1845. As a matter of fact, Lepsius stood at the origins of a still ongoing and extremely popular souvenir production, which employs transcriptions of modern names into hieroglyphs.

The study focuses on the photographic negatives and slides from the personal estate of traveller Barbora Marketa Eliášova stored in the National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures. Photographic negatives and slides were divided between the archival fund and the museum collection. With the use of digital technologies, it was possible to reunite separated parts and study them as a whole. For negatives, the main question was to find out which images Eliášova took herself on her travels and which are image reproductions from other sources. In the same way, slides were examined as evidence of the use of photographic techniques in lecture activities.

Negotiable fate refers to the idea that one can negotiate with fate for control, and that people can exercise personal agency within the limits that fate has determined. Research on negotiable fate has found greater prevalence of related beliefs in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Eastern Europe than in Western Europe and English-speaking countries. The present research extends previous findings by exploring the cognitive consequences of the belief in negotiable fate. It was hypothesized that this belief enables individuals to maintain faith in the potency of their personal actions and to remain optimistic in their goal pursuits despite the immutable constraints. The belief in negotiable fate was predicted to (a) facilitate sense-making of surprising outcomes; (b) increase persistence in goal pursuits despite early unfavorable outcomes; and (c) increase risky choices when individuals have confidence in their luck. Using multiple methods (e.g., crosscultural comparisons, culture priming, experimental induction of fate beliefs), we found supporting evidence for our hypotheses in three studies. Furthermore, as expected, the cognitive effects of negotiable fate are observed only in cultural contexts where the fate belief is relatively prevalent. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the intersubjective approach to understanding the influence of culture on cognitive processes (e.g., Chiu, Gelfand, Yamagishi, Shteynberg, & Wan, 2010), the sociocultural foundations that foster the development of a belief in negotiable fate, and an alternative perspective for understanding the nature of agency in contexts where constraints are severe. Future research avenues are also discussed.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture Act authorized the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to establish grant programs for museums of African American history and culture. Through its Museum Grants for African American History and Culture program, IMLS helps these museums improve operations, enhance stewardship of collections, engage in professional development, and attract new professionals to the field. The Act has fostered a national ecosystem that leverages the collective resources of the National Museum and African American museums throughout the United States to preserve and share the strength and breadth of the African American experience.

A Place of Our OwnThe National Museum of African American History and Culture Howard Dodson (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Gallery Space. Rendering by Adjaye Associates (2011). [End Page 729] The most significant African American artistic statement that will be made in Washington, DC, over the next decade will not be a painting, a sculpture, a dance, a theatrical production, or a monument. It will be the official opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) scheduled to take place in 2016—before the end of Barack Obama’s second term as President of the United States. The NMAAHC will likely be one of the last, if not the last, museum constructed on the National Mall. This first Smithsonian Institution museum on the National Mall dedicated to documenting and interpreting the centrality of the African American experience in the making of America and Americans promises to substantially change the national conversation about America, its history, and its cultural identity. As much a venture into revealing the depth, breadth, and complexity of African American’s cultural and artistic imprint on America as it is into interrogating the relationship of Black people to the economic, political, social, and cultural development of these yet-to-be United States, the National Museum of African American History and Culture will shed new light on both what America has been and what it still has the potential to become. It has been a long time in the making. Almost a hundred years ago, black Civil War veterans and their supporters started black Americans’ quest to establish such an institution to commemorate African Americans’ role in the making of America. These veterans of the United States Colored Troops (USCT) were simply seeking to have the nation acknowledge, recognize, and honor them for the part they had played in the Union victory. Fifty years earlier, they had not been so honored. They were not even invited to march in the Grand Review Parade for the victorious Union armies which took place in Washington, DC, in May of 1865. Veterans of three white Union armies marched down Pennsylvania Ave. to the applause and cheers of President Andrew Johnson and thousands of grateful citizens. But there was, apparently, no place for the regiments of the USCT in the victory parade. No place, no honor for the more than 180,000 African Americans who had served in the Union army. USCT veterans—and African American citizens—were committed to participating fully in the 50th Anniversary of the Grand Review slated to take place in Washington, DC, in May of 1915. To support this effort, they formed a Committee of Colored Citizens of the Grand Army of the Republic. The official organizing committee for the anniversary parade had made no [End Page 730] provisions for black participation. The Committee of Colored Citizens provided such support, raising money to cover housing, food, and logistical costs for USCT Veterans. Significantly, after the parade, they used leftover funds to form the National Memorial Association to create a more permanent memorial to African Americans’ military contributions. Within a year, this germinal idea had evolved into a proposal to create a memorial building to house a comprehensive National African American Museum. The fully articulated vision of the proposed museum included the following: It is the purpose of the National Memorial Association to erect a beautiful building suitable to depict the Negro’s [sic] contribution to America in the military service, in art, literature, invention, science, industry, etc.—a fitting tribute to the negro’s contributions and achievements, and which would serve as an educational center giving inspiration and pride to the present and future generations that they be inspired to follow the example of those who have aided in the advancement of the race and Nation. (qtd. in Wilkins 8)1 Though no specific site was identified for the construction of this memorial building, the unarticulated expectation was that it would be built on the National Mall in Washington, DC. This was because by 1915, the Mall had become generally recognized as the place that most exemplified the nation’s sense of honor and dignity. As home to the...

The extensive collection of animal mummies kept in the National Museum – Náprsek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures comprises specimens of various species. The latest examination by the means of computed tomography has confirmed that one of the mummified ball-shaped packages contained remains of a shrew. The present paper summarises in wider context the issue of the mummification of these insectivores, introduces the shrew mummy kept in the Náprstek Museum collections and its research history, and presents the results of its recent scientific re-examination.

Gordon John Howes 1938-2013 (Fish Systematist)